A Big What If
by TheCheshireKitty
Summary: What if Xehanort hadn't been corrupted by the darkness?


A lone white-haired figure stood on a beach, watching the sun set.

"This world is just too small," he said.

Xehanort sighed and shook his head. No matter where he went on the little group of islands that made up his home, all he could think of was going somewhere else.

The problem was there wasn't anywhere else to go. At least, that's what he'd always been told.

"There has to be something else out there," he mumbled to himself. "I just know it."

Most people didn't agree with him. Xehanort, however, knew they were wrong. He had seen the outsider. He was the only one to see her, it appeared. Either that or the others had just assumed she was from Destiny Islands.

Xehanort was the only one to talk to the outsider, which is why he knew otherwise.

She was on a mission, she had said. A mission to beat back the darkness that was starting to run rampant throughout Destiny Islands. She'd come from another world, and wasn't very familiar with the geography of the islands. She wasn't supposed to be telling anyone about who she was, or why she had come, but she needed Xehanort's help in order to find the root of that darkness.

Xehanort had been glad to help. He didn't know exactly where to find what she was looking for, but he had a strong suspicion about a certain spot.

There was a waterfall on one of the islands. Directly next to this waterfall was a passage that led to a small cavern cut into the rock, either by water, the tree roots that grew there, or a combination of the two. A few days previous to the arrival of the outsider, shadowlike monsters had started appearing there. Some of the residents of Destiny Islands had tried to get rid of them, but no matter what weapons they used, as soon as one was defeated another one popped up.

If this strange woman could get rid of the monsters, the things she called "heartless", he would do whatever he could to help. The cavern behind the waterfall was one of the only mysterious places on all of the islands, and it was where he went to get away from the monotony of everyday life. He hadn't been able to go since it got infested, and he would appreciate any help he could get.

He led her there, and she somehow got rid of the heartless. She'd summoned a giant key, which also served the purpose of a sword, and when the heartless were cut down by it, they didn't pop back up.

Xehanort, being the curious little kid he was, had gotten in the way when trying to get a closer look at the strange shadowy creatures. The woman accidentally hit him, and that was enough for Xehanort to learn to stay far out of the way. He was just grateful the sword was shaped like a key, and therefore wasn't sharp.

After the woman had defeated all of the heartless, a glowing keyhole appeared, seemingly out of thin air. She pointed her strange sword at the keyhole, and it shot out a beam of light. Xehanort was blinded for a few moments, and by the time he could see again the woman was gone.

That was years ago, and he hadn't seen the woman since. She was probably back where she came from. But where did she come from?

Xehanort wasn't going to find any answers here, of that he was certain. He'd already searched the cavern by the waterfall, hoping to find any clues, but there weren't any.

Xehanort wasn't stupid. He was far from it, in fact. He was probably smarter than anyone else on Destiny Islands. So if he couldn't find anything here, he was going to have to go elsewhere.

At first, he wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't hope to build any sort of aircraft. There weren't enough resources, and even if there was, someone his age wouldn't be allowed access to them. He could go by sea, but he didn't know how anything about sailing or navigation.

In the end, building a raft and trying his luck at sea was the only way he could leave. He'd been waiting too long. He had to get off this island, even if he died trying.

He looked at the shoddy looking raft he'd built. He wasn't sure it would even take him far enough away that he couldn't see the islands anymore. If it didn't, he could just swim back and try again.

Even if it did get far enough away, Xehanort probably wouldn't survive the journey. He was bringing enough provisions for two weeks, a water purifier, and a fishing pole, though he didn't really know how to use it well. If there was any sort of land only two weeks from here, someone would have found it by now.

Then again, no one had really tried looking for it. Everyone else was perfectly content to just sit here and do nothing for eighty or so years and then die peacefully. Xehanort couldn't understand how anyone could be happy with a boring life like that.

That was why he was leaving today. He couldn't bear waiting any longer. Most people would've regretted leaving behind friends and family just to go on a journey that would probably be the death of them, but Xehanort wasn't most people. He thought his parents were complete simpletons, as were all other people on Destiny Islands. He didn't care for his parents, and he hadn't bothered to make any friends. He considered befriending the people around him a waste of time and effort.

He took a quick look around him to make sure no one was watching. If anyone saw him, they would try to stop him, and he had little patience for inconveniences like that.

There was no one on the beach, so he went over to his raft and started to push it toward the water. Being more of an intellectual than an athlete, he wasn't very strong. The raft, however, was light, so he didn't have much trouble with it.

The raft was now in the water. Xehanort looked back at the island.

'No', he thought. 'I certainly won't miss this place.'

He turned back to the raft and got on. He picked up a paddle and started trying to maneuver the raft into deeper water.


End file.
